N T Wright
Twelve Months of Sunday year c - The Second Sunday of Advent Year C
Twelve Months of Sunday year c - The Second Sunday of Advent Year C
by SPCK - N T Wright
The Second Sunday of Advent Malachi 3.1–4 Philippians 1.3–11 Luke 3.1–6 I must have sung Handel’s Messiah dozens of times before I asked myself what its first chorus actually meant. ‘And the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together.’ It makes what …
Twelve Months of Sunday year c - The First Sunday of Advent Year C
Twelve Months of Sunday year c - The First Sunday of Advent Year C
by SPCK - N T Wright
The First Sunday of Advent Jeremiah 33.14–16 1 Thessalonians 3.9–13 Luke 21.25–36 It is January, ad 69. You are a Greek-speaking Christian in a Roman town in Turkey. You are deeply anxious about the fierce war in Judaea: the Romans have laid siege to Jerusalem; the city faces sta…
Twelve Months of Sunday year c - Preface
Twelve Months of Sunday year c - Preface
by SPCK - N T Wright
Preface This book brings together my reflections based on the weekly biblical readings in the official lectionary now in use in the Church of England. The pieces first appeared in the Church Times; the encouraging response to them suggests that they should be made available in a …
Paul for Everyone 1 Corinthians - Speaking Clearly in Church
Paul for Everyone 1 Corinthians - Speaking Clearly in Church
by SPCK - N T Wright
Speaking Clearly in Church 1 Corinthians 14.6-12 Two days ago I went to a meeting where seven or eight different languages were used in quick succession. There was a large crowd being addressed, including people from many parts of the world. One by one the speakers got up and spo…
Acts for Everyone part 1 - Taking Root- and a Name!- in Antioch
Acts for Everyone part 1 - Taking Root- and a Name!- in Antioch
by SPCK - N T Wright
Taking Root - and a Name! - in Antioch Acts 1.19-30 The other day I had to go to Cambridge once more, just for a few hours. Looking for a particular shop, I walked up King’s Parade, and was reminded of someone once saying that if there’s anybody in the world you want to meet, you…
Twelve Months of Sundays Year B - The Last Sunday After Trinity Year B
Twelve Months of Sundays Year B - The Last Sunday After Trinity Year B
by SPCK - N T Wright
The Last Sunday After Trinity (proper 25) Job 42.1-6, 10-17 Hebrews 7.23-28 Mark 10.46b-52 Three very different prayers. Whatever we think of the ending of the book of Job (some scholars, inevitably, suppose it a later addition; some in our gloomy culture think it spoils the stor…
Twelve Months of Sundays Year B - Proper 24 Year B
Twelve Months of Sundays Year B - Proper 24 Year B
by SPCK - N T Wright
Proper 24 Job 38.1-7 [34-41] Hebrews 5.1-10 Mark 10.35-45 ‘Were you there,’ asks the old song, ‘when they crucified my Lord?’ ‘Were you there,’ the Lord enquires of Job, ‘when I laid the foundation of the earth?’ Both questions receive the answer ‘No’, but for different reasons; …
Twelve Months of Sundays Year B - Proper 23 Year B
Twelve Months of Sundays Year B - Proper 23 Year B
by SPCK - N T Wright
Proper 23 Job 23.1-9, 16-17 Hebrews 4.12-16 Mark 10.17-31 Two moments jump out at us from this intense little drama. Jesus looks at the man and loves him; not, perhaps, our natural reaction to someone claiming to keep six out of ten commandments perfectly. (A pity Job 23.11–12 is…
Twelve Months of Sundays Year B - Proper 22 Year B
Twelve Months of Sundays Year B - Proper 22 Year B
by SPCK - N T Wright
Proper 22 Job 1.1; 2.1-10 Hebrews 1.1-4; 2.5-12 Mark 10.2-16 Angels are one thing; angels as God’s heavenly council, discussing policy, are another; ‘the Accuser’ (the word ‘Satan’ is a title before it is a proper name) as himself an angel, a celestial Director of Public Prosecut…
Twelve Months of Sundays Year B - Proper 21 Year B
Twelve Months of Sundays Year B - Proper 21 Year B
by SPCK - N T Wright
Proper 21 Esther 7.1-6, 9-10 James 5.13-20 Mark 9.38-50 The ancient world was full of stories in which the threatened hero or heroine is rescued at last, and the people who had almost overcome them are condemned instead. David kills Goliath. Homer’s heroes – some of them, anyway …
Twelve Months of Sundays Year B - Proper 20 Year B
Twelve Months of Sundays Year B - Proper 20 Year B
by SPCK - N T Wright
Proper 20 Proverbs 31.10-31 James 3.13-4.3, 7-8a Mark 9.30-37 Fortunately, Jesus stopped the disciples in their tracks before they acted out James 4 as well as James 3. Envy and selfish ambition, yes; but covetousness had not yet led to murder. The internecine strife in Jerusalem…
Twelve Months of Sundays Year B - Proper 19 Year B
Twelve Months of Sundays Year B - Proper 19 Year B
by SPCK - N T Wright
Proper 19 Proverbs 1.20-33 James 3.1-12 Mark 8.27-38 The first nine chapters of Proverbs introduce two personified figures: Lady Wisdom and Mistress Folly. Both appeal to ‘the sons of men’; we had better not try, in the interests of inclusivity, to flatten out the genders, since …
Twelve Months of Sundays Year B - Proper 18 Year B
Twelve Months of Sundays Year B - Proper 18 Year B
by SPCK - N T Wright
Proper 18 Proverbs 22.1-2, 8-9, 22-23 James 2.1-10[11-13], 14-17 Mark 7.24-37 James’ comments about faith and works, part of his wide- ranging application of ‘the law of liberty’ (1.25, 2.12), have become famous because of their apparent contradiction of Paul’s insistence on just…
Twelve Months of Sundays Year B - Proper 17 Year B
Twelve Months of Sundays Year B - Proper 17 Year B
by SPCK - N T Wright
Proper 17 Song of Solomon 2.8-13 James 1.17-27 Mark 7.1-8, 14-15, 21-23 The main bit missing from Mark 7 is about nullifying God’s word through human tradition. Hmmm. Granted, there are two different issues at stake here: cleanness and uncleanness (with a further subdivision: cle…
Twelve Months of Sundays Year B - Proper 16 Year B
Twelve Months of Sundays Year B - Proper 16 Year B
by SPCK - N T Wright
Proper 16 1 Kings 8.[1,6,10-11]22-30, 41-43 Ephesians 6.10-20 John 6.56-69 Jesus returns, at the end of the long ‘bread of life’ discourse, to the central thrust. Don’t look for more loaves and fishes; look for the different dimension of life which the Son of Man offers, the dime…
Twelve Months of Sundays Year B - Proper 15 Year B
Twelve Months of Sundays Year B - Proper 15 Year B
by SPCK - N T Wright
Proper 15 1 Kings 2.10-12; 3.3-14 Ephesians 5.15-20 John 6.51-58 A glance at the bits of 1 Kings 1—3 which are not read in this sequence will explain why Solomon so desperately needed wisdom. His father’s victories, though remarkable, could not be relied on for long-term security…
Twelve Months of Sundays Year B - Proper 14 Year B
Twelve Months of Sundays Year B - Proper 14 Year B
by SPCK - N T Wright
Proper 14 2 Samuel 18.5-9, 31-33 Ephesians 4.25-5.2 John 6.35, 41-51 Come, believe, and eat. Simple yet profound, carrying us with characteristic Johannine effortlessness from bread by the lake to the bread of life. The bridge between them is Jesus himself, who will give his fles…
Twelve Months of Sundays Year B - Proper 13 Year B